Tag Archive

This week I speak with Micheal Bristow, CEO and co-founder of CrowdProperty, a peer to peer lending platform for property projects.

Prior to starting CrowdProperty, Michael spent 18 years as a strategy consultant advising leading international companies and private equity funds on mergers and acquisitions and corporate strategy as well as growing an 8-figure property portfolio predominantly in London.

CrowdProperty provides a powerful alternative to traditional institutional finance, which for architects who want to do their own projects, can be especially attractive – just think of the possibilities!!

Listen to this week’s podcast to find out :

How you can raise finance for your own project through peer 2 peer lending

Why Institutional finance is preventing projects from happening

How project finance works for you and your clients

This week’s Resources

Book Your 1-2-1 Breakthrough Strategy with the Architects Marketing Institute

In this week’s episode I sit down with co-founders Nic Granleese, Ben Morgan and the UK Head of Operations Celeste Bolte of the Bowerbird Architecture App, a digital platform that makes getting your architecture project published very simple.

In this podcast the Bowerbird trio go into depth about how best to go about getting your work published. In this episode you will learn:
– The essential components to a powerful story about your project
– How to get the most out of your project images
– The common mistakes architects make when publishing their work

On this week’s episode, I visit Google HQ in London to speak with, Laura Crescimano, co-founder of San Francisco based SITE Lab, a multi disciplinary urban design firm.

Laura is an expert on urban design, with an intimate knowledge of public realm and social power of space. Designing both processes and places, Laura’s projects range from Pier 70, where she led a multidisciplinary team through the design and community process for a 35-acre mixed-use waterfront development in a historic industrial district in San Francisco, to leading the design for Google’s first proposed mixed-use neighborhood located at their headquarters in Mountain View, to designing Pop-up Care Villages for the homeless services non-profit Lava Mae to help them provide mobile showers as well as “radical hospitality.”

In this interview you will learn:
– How Laura and Evan won those early masterplan projects and rapidly created a team
– How SITELab Continues the Legacy of co-founder Evan Rose
– How Laura executes creating self generating projects and client relationships which continue to grow their firm.

In this week’s episode, I sit down in Notting Hill with the architectural buzz and energy that is Armin Gangugly.

Armin is a seasoned architect with over 20 years of international experience of designing and delivering buildings of all types. German born and living in Britain for many years, Armin has a unique take on architectural thought and business.

In this episode you will learn:
– What makes a successful practice
– Where to network where there is no competition
– The biggest mistake young architects make

This week I’m speaking with Barry Stott Brookes who is the director and founder of Architects Atelier and a graduate of the Business of Architecture marketing course.

In this interview Barry tells us how he took his once struggling business and transformed it into his ideal practice, with clients he loves working with, rewarding projects and the freedom to enjoy his life and work.

Barry embarked on educating himself in marketing, sales and business strategies and has seen his business thrive whilst becoming a great architect and business man. In this interview you will learn:

– How Barry NEVER has to chase unpaid invoice

– The simple strategy Barry uses to protect his cashflow by thinking of his service like it’s a product

– The system Barry uses to ensure consistent, reliable and predictable referrals.

Prior to establishing ALEKSA studio in 2015, Aleksa worked at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners across the commercial, residential and cultural sectors. She was primarily involved in the design and on-site coordination of the Leadenhall Building. Aleksa was awarded the Komfort award for best interior space at the RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards in 2008.

In this interview Aleksandrina discusses how she won those early residential projects and how she has made the move into commercial work, largely in the retail sector and is able to produce work that satisfies both her visual and design agendas with client commercial requirements. She also speaks about a number of self generated projects and products that utilise her expertise with digital tools and fabrication.

This week’s interview speaks with the co-founders of BFA, Black Females in Architecture a network who’s mission is to support, connect and empower black and black mixed heritage women working in the fields of architecture and construction.

Co founders Neba Sere, Selasi Setufe, Alisha Morenike Fisher and Akua Danso discuss how they created the network and many important issues facing the architectural industry today. The leadership and entrepreneurial spirit demonstrated by these ladies provides many essential business lessons for us to model and learn from.

In 2018 I interviewed 42 architects, archipreneurs and industry thought leaders.
Again and again the same themes appeared that I sensed were at the root of many architecture business problems.

Over the Christmas period, I spent a lot of time quietly reflecting and re listening to those interviews in order to distill what these industry experts were telling me they had found to often be some of the most challenging aspects of running an architecture business and what they have done to navigate around them.

From that study I compiled a list of 7 Business Obstacles that in many cases threaten and prevent otherwise successful and intelligent architecture practices from fulfilling in their mission of delivering impactful and meaningful design work.

In this BoA U.K. live event I shared this list and invited a panel of industry leaders and experts to share how they from years of hard won business experience have learnt to successfully navigate around them in order to create game changing businesses.

Sharing their strategies for avoiding the 7 most common obstacles to an architecture business we have:
JOHAN TAFT
The Navy seal of business mentors, for the last 20 years Johan has worked with company leaders, executives, senior partners of firms, business owners and entrepreneurs around the world with a specialist focus on the construction and property sector.

DAVID WEST
Co-Founder and Director of Studio Egret West (SEW). David has over 20 years experience in Urban Visions, Place Making and Strategic Framework plans and has an incredible experience at dealing with the 7 Threats.

TARA GBOLADE
RIBA Journal’s Rising Star of 2018. Tara is the founder and director of Studio Gbolade and is an intelligent business woman and entrepreneur, having already created numerous streams of revenue to her practice including apps to design consultation.

HAZEL ROUNDING
Director. Joining shedkm within the first year and contributing significantly to shedkm’s reputation and success, Hazel also spearheaded the opening of the London studio.

TIM BURGESS
Timothy has extensive experience working with funds, family offices and long-term investors to help manage their portfolios and he has walked the path of starting out as a sole practitioner to creating a partnership and growing a team in their central London location. Tim has developed and educated himself in business over the years through extensive self learning and mentorship with other successful architects.

In 2018 I interviewed 42 architects, archipreneurs and industry thought leaders.
Again and again the same themes appeared that I sensed were at the root of many architecture business problems.

Over the Christmas period, I spent a lot of time quietly reflecting and re listening to those interviews in order to distill what these industry experts were telling me they had found to often be some of the most challenging aspects of running an architecture business and what they have done to navigate around them.

From that study I compiled a list of 7 Business Obstacles that in many cases threaten and prevent otherwise successful and intelligent architecture practices from fulfilling in their mission of delivering impactful and meaningful design work.

In this BoA U.K. live event I shared this list and invited a panel of industry leaders and experts to share how they from years of hard won business experience have learnt to successfully navigate around them in order to create game changing businesses.

Sharing their strategies for avoiding the 7 most common obstacles to an architecture business we have:
JOHAN TAFT
The Navy seal of business mentors, for the last 20 years Johan has worked with company leaders, executives, senior partners of firms, business owners and entrepreneurs around the world with a specialist focus on the construction and property sector.

DAVID WEST
Co-Founder and Director of Studio Egret West (SEW). David has over 20 years experience in Urban Visions, Place Making and Strategic Framework plans and has an incredible experience at dealing with the 7 Threats.

TARA GBOLADE
RIBA Journal’s Rising Star of 2018. Tara is the founder and director of Studio Gbolade and is an intelligent business woman and entrepreneur, having already created numerous streams of revenue to her practice including apps to design consultation.

HAZEL ROUNDING
Director. Joining shedkm within the first year and contributing significantly to shedkm’s reputation and success, Hazel also spearheaded the opening of the London studio.

TIM BURGESS
Timothy has extensive experience working with funds, family offices and long-term investors to help manage their portfolios and he has walked the path of starting out as a sole practitioner to creating a partnership and growing a team in their central London location. Tim has developed and educated himself in business over the years through extensive self learning and mentorship with other successful architects.